THE government of Belize has moved with alacrity to re-nationalise its telecommunications sector to protect its national interests, according to Prime Minister Dean Barrow.

The amazing thing is that the government takeover of the Telemedia company was done in a matter of days with the Governor General signing the bill into law on Wednesday after it was presented in the parliament on Monday.

Mr. Barrow was blunt in addressing the issue. “The current owners of Telemedia, as they have repeatedly demonstrated, will stop at nothing to frustrate the business of governance in this country; and will act with every resource at their command to thwart the interest and legitimate aspirations of the Belizean people…the exigencies of the circumstances, the larger demands of Belize’s national interests, left us no choice”, he said.

The Guyana Government has not signalled any intention of taking over GT&T, although there are major parallels in the situation in the two countries – connivance between the owners of the two firms and political parties that were once in government and benefitted from cozy arrangements with the companies.

In Guyana, the main opposition People’s National Congress Reform, which had deals with the ATN parent company of GT&T when it was in power, is opposed to the government’s move to divest its minority shares in GT&T where its members on the board of directors have almost no say in the running of the company.

The Belize government has adopted a national position – acting in the interest of the public.

The Guyana Government wants to do the same but the PNCR and its cronies in the Alliance For Change are adopting a cock-eyed policy.
TROY TYRELL